The hydrotropic effect of sugar-based surfactants has been studied and compared with totoul-4-sulphonic acid, which was used as as model hydrotrope. The effect has been assessed as the cloud point elevation of a solution containing different nonionic surfactants upon addition of the hydrotrope. Sugar-based surfactants with intermediate alkyl chain lenths were proven to be very effective in elevating the cloud point, while surfactants with a short or a long hydrophobic part had a lesser effect. The influence of the sugarbased surfactants on the phase behaviour and stability of a microemulsion of water, sodium dodecyl sulphate and pentanol was determined. The effects on the phase behaviour and the cloud point elevation on addition of a sugarbased surfactant are highly dependent on the structure of the surfactant. However, no correlation could be found between the structural effects as observed in the two studied functions.